When Jody Adams, chef and owner of famed Rialto, sought to transform the restaurant’s dining room, she approached Maryann Thompson Architects to conceive a design that resounded with her take on classic Italian recipes. Jody believed that Maryann’s approach to architecture and design was sympathetic with her attitude toward cuisine. In her dishes, Jody relies on fresh, seasonal and local ingredients and straightforward preparation methods to bring out the intrinsic character and subtle flavors of food. Maryann Thompson Architects typically utilizes natural materials and textures that offer a richly layered experience in their relationships. The design scheme for Rialto leverages this attitude. The restaurant’s interior offers a visually and tactilely rich sequence of spaces that affords moments of mystery and suspense in one’s passage through and occupation of the space.

The scheme utilizes distinctive natural materials, including Onyx, Quartz, mahogany, mohair, and suede. Juxtaposed against each other, one reads the strong materiality of these elements and their delicate and complementary relationships. At the restaurant’s entrance, a corridor of Italian mosaic tile defines a “road” that guides one’s passage through the L-shaped lounge into the dining room. Sheer curtains hang at intervals throughout the lounge and dining room, providing enclosure and a playful shift in scale without disrupting sightlines or rigidly enclosing the space. Light becomes an additional material that activates the space when filtered through or layered against these elements. Taking cues from Japanese shadow plays, the design offers moments of theatricality in one’s movement through and interaction with the space. Seated behind a sheer panel, one is simultaneously a character in or a spectator of a rotating shadow play. At the Onyx-topped bar, light filters through the stone surface to illuminate the wait staff from below, elevating the simple activity of drink preparation or serving into a performance. The arrangement of circular banquettes in the dining room alternatively reveals or conceals views of other tables, providing intimacy and enclosure or vantage point to watch other diners.